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Read. Follow. Verify.Indiana Restricts Local Zoning Permits for Relocating Certain Outdoor Advertising Signs Starting July 2026
Last action · January 28, 2026: First reading: referred to Committee on Roads and TransportationSponsors: Blake Doriot and 7 others
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What This Bill Proposed
The Indiana Department of Transportation and local zoning authorities are prohibited from applying zoning standards or requiring permits to relocate qualifying outdoor advertising signs, effective July 1, 2026. Signs inside an cannot be moved outside that city without receiving approval from the receiving county or municipality. Zoning authorities retain the right to require permits or inspections solely to enforce national building codes or state fire safety rules.
Outdoor advertising owners and local municipalities face changes regarding where and under what conditions billboards can be moved, with local permit requirements waived under specified size, location, and lighting criteria.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
outdoor advertising sign owners
Sign owners are able to relocate qualifying outdoor advertising signs without local zoning permits or standards, provided they meet size, location, and spacing rules.
local zoning authorities
Zoning authorities lose the ability to apply standard zoning rules or require permits for qualifying relocations, but retain authority over safety and building code inspections.
Indiana department of transportation
The department is barred from applying zoning standards or requiring permits to relocate qualifying outdoor advertising signs.
Key Facts
- The Indiana department of transportation or a zoning authority may not apply zoning standards or require a permit to relocate an outdoor advertising sign if the new sign matches the old advertising space in square footage.
- Eligible relocated signs must be located within market areas, within 660 feet of a highway, street, or road, and in zones allowing commercial or industrial activity.
- Relocated signs must conform to interstate and limited-access facility standards for size, lighting, and spacing, and cannot be upgraded to electronic billboards.
- Existing outdoor advertising signs inside an excluded city cannot be relocated outside that city unless the receiving county or municipality approves.
Show all 6 facts
- Zoning authorities may require a permit or inspection to ensure compliance with national codes or fire prevention and building safety commission rules.
- If a zoning authority does not issue a permit decision within thirty days of receiving an application, the permit is automatically granted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can local zoning authorities still require permits for relocating signs under any circumstances?
What happens if a zoning authority fails to act on a permit application within thirty days?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · passed the Senate · in House committee.
Procedural history
13 actions- Jan 28, 2026HouseIntroducedFirst reading: referred to Committee on Roads and Transportation
- Jan 23, 2026SenateReferred to the House
- Jan 22, 2026SenateSenator Freeman added as coauthor
- Jan 22, 2026SenateSenator Buchanan added as coauthor
- Jan 22, 2026SenateCosponsors: Representatives Lawson, Pressel
- Jan 22, 2026SenateHouse sponsor: Representative Miller D
Show 7 earlier actions
- Jan 22, 2026SenateFloorThird reading: passed; Roll Call 52: yeas 28, nays 17
- Jan 20, 2026SenateFloorSecond reading: ordered engrossed
- Jan 15, 2026SenateFloorCommittee report: amend do pass, adopted
- Jan 13, 2026SenateSenator Buck added as third author
- Jan 5, 2026SenateSenator Rogers added as second author
- Jan 5, 2026SenateIntroducedFirst reading: referred to Committee on Homeland Security and Transportation
- Jan 5, 2026SenateAuthored by Senator Doriot
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Connected Entities
Sources
iga.in.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 45)
- Controversy20Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz15Current news / social attention level
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